Shoe



Jan. 6, 1925.

F. HUNTER SHOE Filed Dec. 28, 1923 Fig. 2.

Inventor. Frederick Hunter by/uud Anya Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

UNITED SHOE.

Application filed December 28, 1923. Serial No. 683,250.

'1 0 all whom it may concern. I

I Be it known that I, FREDERICK HUNTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented anImprovement in Shoes, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts. I

This invention relates to improvements in shoes and particularly of the type in which the sole has an exaggerated inflared toe portion, that is to say a toe portion the inside of which projects or swings inwardly a considerably greater distance from the longitudinal 'axis of the. shank and sole than the outward projection or flare of the sole; shoes of this type being generally known in the trade as Natural shoes, and otherwise known to the trade as Ground Gripper, Educator, etc. The sole of shoes of this type have heel portions which follow in conformation of the heel of the foot and present a curved rear portion and side portions which converge inwardly toward the shank of the shoe to a distance beyond the usual breast edge of the heel of the shoe.

In the manufacture of shoes the counters have heretofore been constructed to conformrto the shape of the heel and consequently tofollow the converging lines of the forward side portions of the heel. This form of counter is correct as to the housing of the outside line of the foot as the convergence toward the axis of the shank is but slight, but upon the inside of the heel of the shoe the convergence is much greater and causes the counter to produce a resistance. to the inside of;the heel of the foot of the wearer so that when the weight of the body is imposed upon the heel of the foot it .causes a soft facia at theinner portion of the heel to be condensed and consequently forced outwardly by the portion of the .counter which is engaged by it. This tends to throw the foot outwardly with respect to the line of the upper which lies in a plane substantially tangential to the inner curved from the inside,

face of the heel and the inflare of the toe portion of the shoe. Consequently the foot is forced outwardly from its normal position with respect to the. sole and the outer side of the foot particularly along the outer ball portion thereby distorting the outer portion of the upper and eventually causing it to project beyond the outside of the sole. This is a defect which is commonly found in shoes particularly of the so-called Natural type above described.

The object of the present invention is to prevent the displacement of the foot in the shoe and to permit the foot to assume and maintain its upper relation upon the sole.

Fig; 1 is an elevation of a shoe, viewed a portion of the upper being broken away to illustrate the counter tembodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a sole showing a preferred form of counter, embodying the invention, in section and illustrating in dotted lines the usual form of counter and the, position of the foot upon the sole caused by such counter, and also illustrating in dot and dash lines the normal position of the foot upon thesole which is procured by the use of the present invention. I q

The shoe illustrated in the accompanying drawing comprises the usual sole 1 having a heel 2 and an upper 3 of flexible material in which the shoe is housed and, in which the line 4 of the inside of the upper, when viewed from above, lies in a vertical plane substantially tangential to the heel and the inside flared portion of the toe.

The sole of the shoe illustrated in the accompanying drawing is of the so-called Natural type and comprises a heel portion 5 having a curved rear end 6'and side portions 7 and 8 of a curvature which converges more or less toward the longitudinal axis 9 of the shank and sole. From the heel portion 7 the outer edge of the sole curves outwardly with respect to the axis of the sole, presenting an outwardly flared portion 10. The edge 11 of the sole then curves inwardly to the toe 12-. The inner edge of the sole converges from the inner side portion 8 of the heel along a curve 13 which approaches much closer to the longitudinal axis of the shank and sole than the corres ponding outer edge portion. The inner edge then curves more abruptly outwardly along the line 14: to present the inflared toe portion and thence presents an inward curve 15 to the toe portion 12 of the sole. The usual counter conforms to the curvature of the rear and side portion of the heel and extends along in parallelism with the edges of the sole to the breast 16 of the heel, or more usually from one-fourth to one-half inches beyond the breast of the'heel.

By reason of the fact that the convergence of the outer edge of the sole toward the axis of the shank is relatively slight the outer portion of the counter permits the foot, when placed in the shoe, to assume its proper position. The curvature of theinner front portion. 13 of the heel, however, is such that the counter in following this line of curvature extends well beyond the line 4: of the inside of the upper, such position of the counter being illustrated by the dotted line construction 17 in Fig. 2. As a consequence of this excessive inward curvature of the stiff forward inside portion of the counter the inner forward portion of the heel of the wearer engages the forward inner end portion of the counter 17 and forces theforward portion of the heel outwardly thus displacing the toe portion of the foot from its normal position, as indicated in dot and dash lines, to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 9-.

It will be noted that although the forward inner end portion 17 of the usual counter engages the soft fascia of the front portion of the heel of the foot the portion of the heel thus engaged is opposite the rigid oscalcis bone and inasmuch as the skeleton structure of the foot is rigid against lateral move ment while flexible with respectto vertical movement which is-usedi-n the act of walking the pressure-of the counter-upon this forward portion of the heel necessarily swings the toe portion of thefoot outwardly in the manner above described.-

As th flexible upper will yield to such displacement it soon becomes permanently distorted and overhangs the outer edge of the sole as will be observed to be a condition in the majority of partially worn and old shoes. Furthermore when the foot is thus displaced it loses a considerable portion of the bearing surface of the sole which should be used as the weight-bearing surface for the foot.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a counter which will not press against the inner forward portion of the heel. This is accomplished by providing a counter having a curved rear portion 18 conforming to the contour of the rear edge of the heel and an outer side portion 19 -which may extend along the outer side of the heel portion to or beyond the breast portion 16 of the heel and an inner side por tion 20 which is a continuation of the curved rear edge portion of the counter, but terminates well back of the breast of the heel preferably in a plane tangential to the inside edge of the heel andthe inflared toe portion of the'sole. The line 41- of the upper lies substantially in this plane so that the forward inner portion of the heel of the wealrer'will 'en 'age the flexible-"upper which will'yield suifciently to enable the foot to assume its normal position as illustrated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and Qthe front inner edge- 21 of the counter intersects the sole about midway between the position of the breast of the heel and the rear edge of the heel and'extends upwardly and rearwardly along such curves as may be most desirable to accomplish the purposes sit forth and to present a neat appearing 's cc.

It will be understood that while the invention isdescribed more particularly with reference to shoes having soles provided with exaggerated infla'red toe portions, it is equally applicable to shoes of any other type in which the convergence of the forward inner side of the heel portion toward the axis of the shank issuch as to cause a counter conforming thereto to press upon the forward inner portion of the heel.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe comprising a sole having an inflared toe portion and a heel portion the side 'edges'of which converge toward the longi tudinal a xisof the shank of the sole and upper of flexible material, a counter ofst-itl' material conforming tothe shape of said heel and terminating-on the inside of the heel portion substantially in a plane i tangeir "tial to the insideof the-heel and infl-are of the toe portion of the sole, whereby pressure upon'theforward-inner portion'o-f the heel of the wearer will be prevented and by reason of the flexibility of the upper the foot will assume and maintain its proper position on thesole and thereby avoid outward distortion of the upper relatively to the sole.-

2. A shoe comprising a sole having an in flared toe p-orti'on and a heel portion the side lit) edges of which converge toward the longitudinal axis of the shank of the sole and an upper of flexible material, a counter of stiff material conforming to the shape of the heel extendingalong the outer side of the heel, around the rear portion of the heel, and terminating substantially midway of the inside of the heel whereby pressure upon the for- Ward inner portion of the heel of the wearer Will be prevented and by reason of the fiexi- 10 hility of the upper the foot will assume and maintain its proper position on the sole and distortion of th shoe avoided.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FREDERICK HUNTER. 

